How To Train Your Dragons
by JJ Feilbach
Summary: Hiccup and Siff have been friends since birth. One night, they shot down a night fury. But when they went to the woods, they didn't just find one. This is their story.
1. This is Berk

" _This, is Berk. It's twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery."_

" _We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have Dragons. Most people would leave. Not us. We're vikings. We have stubbornness issues."_

" _My name's Hiccup, by the way. Great name, right?"_

" _Oh, come on Hiccup it could be worse."_

" _How so?"_

" _Well, your name could be Snotlout. Snot, is the stuff that comes out of your nose when you sneeze and a lout is the same thing as a drunk."_

" _... I can never look at Snotlout the same ever again..."_

" _See? Told you._

" _Oh, and my friend telling the story is Siff."_

Hiccup and Siff run outside and saw a horde of dragons flying through the village. "Come on, Siff," Hiccup said, grabbing his best friend by the arm. "I'm sure we can get one this time."

Siff rolled her eyes but laughed as they ran outside. They raced through the village and dodged through other vikings fighting off the dragons. Suddenly the two of them were grabbed by the back of their shirts and pulled backwards.

"What are you two doing out?!" A mountainous man with a burly red beard shouted. "Get back inside!" He shoved them off.

" _That's Stoick the Vast." Siff says. "He's the chief of the tribe."_

" _They say that when he was just a baby he popped a dragon's head clean off of its shoulders." Hiccup says. "Do I believe it? Yes I do."_

" _I for one do not. But that's not the point."_

Siff and Hiccup ran through the flames and into what was supposed to be a blacksmith's shop. "Oh, nice of you two to finally join the party." A man with a peg-leg, and crazy personality said. "I was afraid one of you had been carried off and the other was crazy enough to follow."

Hiccup put on an apron while Siff ran to get some materials. "Who me?" Hiccup asked. "Nah, I'm way too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all of me."

"Well they need toothpicks, don't they?"

" _The meathead with a troll's attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber."_

" _We've been his apprentices ever since we were little… well… littler…"_

"Don't listen to him, Hiccup." Siff said quietly. Then she raised her voice so Gobber could hear. "At least toothpicks serve a purpose. If they ever took Gobber, they'd just chew him up and spit him back out. Like bad fish."

"I heard that, lassie." Gobber shouted back at her.

Siff stuck her tongue out at him and she and Hiccup quickly got back to work. Suddenly, a nearby house erupted in flames.

" _See?" Hiccup says. "Old village, lots and lots of new houses."_

As the house across the street started to burn, four other teenagers rushed over to put it out.

" _Oh, that's Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut." Siff says. "And…"_

The house exploded in a ball of flames nearly engulfing the last girl.

" _Astrid." Hiccup says dreamily_

" _Oh give me a break Hiccup." Siff says, punching in arm. "But seriously, their job is so much cooler than ours."_

As the other kids ran by, Hiccup tried to jump out of the window after them, but Gobber caught him by the scruff of his shirt. "Oh, come on!" Hiccup begged. "Let me out there, please. I need to make my mark."

"Oh, you've made plenty of marks." Gobber said. "All in the wrong places."

"Please, just two minutes. I'll kill a dragon, my life will get infinitely better and I might even get a date."

"Please Gobber." Siff said.

Gobber shook his head. "You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe, you can't even use one of these." Gobber picked up a bola and handed it off to a viking coming into the shop.

"You do have a good point." Siff said. "But this little beauty will throw it for us."

Hiccup tore off a tarp covering a catapult device and an arm sprang up with a bola set into the trigger. Then by accident, Siff prematurely launched the bola and it hit a viking in the head.

Gobber rolled his eyes. "See? This. This right here. Both of you. This is what I'm talking about."

"It was just a mild calibration issue." Hiccup insisted.

"No-"

"Gobber we can-"

"No stop. Both of you. Listen to me, if you want to get out there to fight dragons you need to stop all… this." He said, gesturing in their general direction.

"But... you just gestured to all of us." Siff said.

"Yes! That's it! Stop being all of you."

"Ohhhh…" Hiccup said threatening.

"Ohhhh yes…" Gobber said mimicking Hiccup.

"You sir, are playing a dangerous game." Hiccup said, getting all up in Gobber's face. "Keeping all this raw… Vikingness contained. THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!"

"I'll take my chances." Gobber said, not amused. "Now both of you. Swords. Sharpened. Now." He grabbed two swords and tossed them at the Siff and Hiccup. They took the swords begrudgingly and started doing their jobs.

" _One day we'll get out there." Siff says. "Because killing a dragon, is EVERYTHING around here."_

" _A Nadder head on a stick will at least get someone noticed." Hiccup explains. "Gronckles are tough. Killing one of those would definitely get me a girlfriend."_

" _A Zippleback? Exotic. Two heads, twice the status."_

" _And then there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after them. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire._

" _But the Ultimate Prize, is the dragon that no one has ever seen. We call it the-"_

A giant explosion came from the catapults and Stoick jumped off.

" _Night Fury." Siff says. "This thing never steals food, never shows itself and never, ever, misses."_

" _No one has ever killed a Night Fury." Hiccup says. "That's why I'm going to be the first."_

" _We, Hiccup. We're going to be the first."_

" _Oh, sorry. Right."_

Gobber started grabbing things from around the shop and trades his hammer-hand for an axe-hand. "Man the fort you two." He said. "They need me out there."

"Must be going badly if they need the one-legged wonder." Siff said, making Hiccup struggle to hold back laughter.

"I heard that, Lassie." Gobber said. He turned to face them with a threatening glare. "Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean." He charged into the chaos, hollering like a madman.

Hiccup gave Siff a knowing look. Siff smiled and they grabbed their contraption and raced out the back door. They weaved through the ongoing mayhem as fast as their legs could carry them. The entire way, people were shouting at them to get back inside. They reached a cliff overlooking the bay and dropped the handles of the contraption to the ground. They got it all set up and then waited in anticipation.

"See anything?" Hiccup asked.

Siff scanned the sky looking for signs of a Night Fury. "No, nothing yet."

Suddenly, the sound of a Night Fury filled the sky. The sound was coming from the watch tower. They aimed their weapon and fired just after the Night Fury blasted the tower to bits. The bola flew into the air then disappeared. As soon as it was out of the sky, they heard a _WHACK_ and a _SCREECH_.

"There!" Siff said, point to where a dark shape was hurtling down towards Raven's Point.

"Yes!" Hiccup exclaimed. "We did it! Did anyone see that?"

A Monsterous Nightmare climbed up the face of the cliff and their victory was short lived when they saw the hungry look in its eye.

"I don't think you wanted him to see that." Siff said.

"Nope."

They took off sprinting as fast as they could.

Stoick turned around from the battle to hear familiar yells coming from the hill above him. Siff and Hiccup were running through the plaza with the Monstrous Nightmare close behind them. It blasted a gooey fire across the streets, setting the houses ablaze.

Stoick abandoned the battle and ran after the two kids.

Hiccup took cover behind the last standing pillar in the square and grabbed Siff by the arm just before the Nightmare blasted it. He pulled her in close to him and they squeezed each other in fear.

Just then, Stoick tackled the Nightmare to the ground and smashed it repeatedly in the face. The Nightmare realized that it was beaten and flew away to avoid getting its head put up on a stick.

" _Oh, and there's one more thing you should know…"_

The pillar fell to the ground to reveal Hiccup and Siff standing there ashamed. "Hi… Dad…" Hiccup said. The entire town looked at them with scorn.

"Okay but we hit a Night Fury." Siff said quickly.

Stoick grabbed them both and dragged them off.

"It's not like the last few times dad," Hiccup said. "I mean we really actually hit it. You guys were busy and we had a very clear shot. It went down, just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there, before it-"

"STOP!" Stoick exclaimed, letting them go. "Just… stop. Everytime you go outside, disaster falls. Can't either of you see that I have bigger problems that constantly worrying about where you two are? Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed."

Siff looked around and saw everyone looking at them. "Between you and me, sir," Siff said. "The village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?"

"Don't you start with me, Siff." Stoick said. "You were supposed to keep Hiccup from doing anything stupid. And yet, he still managed to drag you off and nearly got the both of you killed. You deliberately disobeyed me, both of you. Why can't you follow the simplest of orders?"

"I can't stop myself." Hiccup said. "I just see a dragon and-"

Siff elbowed him in the side, cutting him off. She shook her head to keep him from talking. "We're sorry, sir." Siff said.

"Gobber, take them back to the house." Stoick said. "I have their mess to clean up."

" _I should probably explain this now." Siff says. "Stoick is not my dad and Hiccup is not my brother. My parents were good friends with Stoick and his wife. Then my parents were killed during a trading expedition to one of the other islands a few years ago. Their boat was attacked and… well… they didn't make it… Hiccup and I were already very close friends and Stoick took me in. But he made me promise that I would keep Hiccup out of trouble… I haven't been able to keep that promise very well."_

Hiccup and Siff past though the other teenagers and immediately began being teased.

"Hey look, it's Hiccup and the Stiff." Snotlout said. "I honestly don't think I've ever seen anyone mess up that badly. That actually helped."

"Thank you," Hiccup said. "I was trying so…"

They kept walking and Siff didn't say anything.

"We really did hit one." Siff said once they were away from the other teens.

"Sure lassie." Gobber said.

"We did." Hiccup insisted. "He just never listens."

"It must run in the family." Gobber said. "And it appears that Siff has picked it up too."

"And when he does, it's always with his disappointed scowl. Like someone skipped on the meat in sandwich." Hiccup threw his voice to mimic his father. "Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms. Extra guts and glory on the side. This here. This is a talking fishbone!"

"I know how you feel, Hiccup." Siff said. "I'm like the extra meal that he didn't even order."

"No, no." Gobber said. "You're both looking at this all wrong. It's not what you look like, it's what's inside that he can't stand."

"Thank you, for summing that up." Siff said with a sigh, reaching for the doorknob.

"Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not." Gobber said, realizing that he'd crossed a line.

"I just want to be one of you guys." Hiccup said, walking inside with Siff close behind him.

"We're not just going to sit here while there's a Night Fury waiting for us is there?" Siff asked.

Hiccup looked out the window to see that Gobber was far enough away. "No way." He said with a smile. "Come on."

They ran straight out the back door and headed off.


	2. The Night Fury

"Either we finish them, or they finish us." Stoick said loudly. He and the majority of the adults from around the village were gathered in the Great Hall. "It's the only way we'll be rid of them. If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will leave. They'll find another home. One more search. Before the ice sets in."

"Those ships never come back." One of the Vikings said.

"We're Vikings." Stoick said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Its an occupational hazard. Now, who's with me?"

No one responded.

"Alright then." He said. "Those who stay will look after Hiccup and Siff."

Everyone's hands shot up into the air and Stoick was met with enthusiastic responses.

"That's more like it."

The rest of the people rushed to the doors, leaving Stoick and Gobber alone. "Alright then," Gobber said, finishing the rest of his drink. "I'll pack my undies."

"No," Stoick said. "I need you to stay and train the new recruits."

"Oh. Right. And while I'm busy, the terrible two can cover the stall. Molten steel, razor sharp blades, lots of time to themselves… what could possibly go wrong?"

Stoick sat down next to Gobber and suddenly seemed tired. "What am I going to do with them, Gobber?"

"Put them in training with the others." Gobber said plainly.

"No, I'm serious."

"So am I."

Stoick gave Gobber a look. "They'd be dead before you let the first dragon out of its cage."

"Oh, you don't know that."

"I do actually."

"No you don't."

"No, I actually do."

"No you don't!" Gobber said defensively.

"Listen, you know what they're like. From the time Hiccup could crawl he's been… different. He never listens. And Siff, she's got the attention span of a sparrow and the curiosity of a squirrel with a death wish. I try to take them fishing and they go hunting for… for trolls!"

"Trolls exist." Gobber said. "They steal your socks. But only the left ones… what's with that?"

"When I was a boy…" Stoick said.

"Oh here we go again." Gobber muttered.

"My father told me to bang my head against a rock and I did it. I thought it was crazy, but I didn't question him. And you know what happened?"

"You got a headache."

"That rock split in two. It taught me what a Viking could do, Gobber. He could crush mountains, level forests tame seas! Even as a boy, I knew who I was, who I had to become…" He sighed. "Hiccup is not that boy and… I think Siff may be the problem."

"Siff? His best friend in the whole wide world?"

Stoick nodded. "She may be a bad influence on him. I think she's the one who comes up with all of these crazy ideas."

Gobber shook his head. "It's not her." He said. "She tries to keep him safe like she promised. But Hiccup drags her along on their… adventures. And if you try to split them up, Hiccup will never forgive you. You can't stop them from doing what they're doing. You can only prepare them. The truth is, you're not always going to be there to protect them. They're going to get out there again, for crying out loud, they're probably out there now."

Stoick sighed, knowing Gobber was right.

"Anything?" Siff called from up in a tree.

Hiccup looked up from a hand drawn map in his notebook. "Nope." He called frustratedly, drawing another X on the map. Hiccup slammed the book shut and threw it at the tree. "How did we manage to lose an entire dragon?!"

Siff jumped down from the tree and landed right next to Hiccup. "Hey, don't worry." She said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find the Night Fury." Siff bent down to pick up the notebook but noticed something black and shiney on the ground. "Hiccup. Look at this." She picked it up and realized that it was a dragon scale.

Hiccup took the scale from her and then took a closer look at the ground. A small trail of scales led to a tree that had fallen down. Well, it looked like something had crashed into it.

"Oh Thor." Siff muttered. They followed the trail of destruction until they found it. The downed Night Fury.

"Ha! We did it!" Hiccup exclaimed joyously. "We did it!"

But their celebration was short lived as the Night Fury shifted in the entangled ropes and branches. "I'm gonna kill you, dragon." Hiccup said darkly. "I'm gonna cut out your heart and take it to my father." Hiccup took out his knife and raised it above the Night Fury's head. With pleading in its eyes, it looked from Hiccup to Siff, then closed its eyes and waited for Hiccup to finish the job.

"Hiccup…" Siff said quietly. "I… don't…"

Hiccup looked from the dragon to his best friend. Then they knew what they had to do. Seconds later, they were cutting the dragon free.

Suddenly, the dragon jumped up and pinned Hiccup to the ground. For a moment, nothing happened. The dragon just stared at him. Then Siff put herself in between Hiccup and the dragon and looked it straight in the eye. Just as they thought that it was going to eat them, the dragon let out a piercing roar. Siff roared right back at it and then it flew off.

"What, in the name of Odin, was that?" Hiccup asked, stunned. "You… I mean… you just…"

"Roared at a Night Fury." Siff said, just as stunned as Hiccup.

"You my friend," Hiccup said, with a small laugh. "Are either very brave or very, very stupid."

Siff laughed a little too. "I've noticed that there's a very fine line between the two."

Hiccup nodded. "Let's go home."

"I couldn't agree with you more." Siff said. As they walked back home, Siff thought she saw a giant black blur run by them. It almost looked like another Night Fury. But she dismissed it and kept walking.

When they got home that night, Siff ran upstairs first to avoid being seen by Stoick but Hiccup wasn't so lucky.

"Hiccup," Stoick said."

"Dad, hi." Hiccup said, caught. " I, uh... I have to talk to you Dad."

"I need to speak with you too son."

At the same time, they both blurted something out. Both of them ending with: "Fight Dragons."

"You go first." Stoick said.

"No, no you go first."

"Alright. You get your wish. Dragon training. You and Siff start in the morning."

"Oh man, I should've gone first." Hiccup said, scrambling to say something. "Uh, 'cause I was thinking, you know we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings, but do we have enough bread-making Vikings, or small home repair-"  
"You'll need this." Stoick interrupted, handing Hiccup his axe. Hiccup avoided taking it.

"I don't want to fight dragons, dad." Hiccup said.

Stoick laughed. "Oh come on. Yes you do."

"Rephrase. Dad, I can't kill dragons."

"But you will kill dragons."

"No, I'm really extra sure that I won't."

"It's time, Hiccup."

"Can you not hear me?"

"This is serious, son." Stoick said, forcing the axe into Hiccup's hands. "When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you. Which means you walk like us. You talk like us. You think like us. No more of…" Stoick gestured in Hiccup's direction. "... this."

"But you just gestured at all of me." Hiccup said.

"Deal?"

"This conversation is feeling very one sided."

"Deal?"

"Doesn't Siff get a say in any of this?"

"Hiccup." Stoick said in a threatening tone.

Hiccup sighed. "Deal."

"Good." Stoick said, grabbing his pack and walking towards the door. "I'll let you tell Siff the good news. Train hard, I'll be back. Probably."

"And I'll be here…" Hiccup said. "Maybe."

As soon as Stoick was out the door, Hiccup ran upstairs. "Siff, we have a problem."

Siff looked up from her book. "What is it?" She asked. "I heard you and Stoick yelling about something downstairs."

"Dragon Training." Hiccup said. "We start tomorrow morning."

Siff's eyes went wide. "You're kidding right"

Hiccup shook his head.

"Well if that isn't ironic timing, I don't know what is." Siff told him as Hiccup got into his bed on the other side of the room.

"I tried to tell him that we didn't want to do it," Hiccup told her. "But he wouldn't listen."

"So… now what?"

Hiccup thought about it. "I guess we have to go."

"But Hiccup, after what happened today, we just can't."

"I know. We'll just fake it."

Siff nodded. "I guess we should get some sleep."

"Yeah. Night."

Siff blew out the candle by her bed and they went to sleep.


	3. Dragon Training

"Welcome to Dragon Training." Gobber said ecstatically, opening the gate to a giant dome. The group of trainees walked in, ready to get started.

"No turning back." Astrid said dramatically.

"I hope I get some serious burns." Tuffnut said.

"I'm hoping for some mauling on my shoulder or lower back." Ruffnut said.

"Eh… it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." Astrid said.

"Yeah, I know right?" Hiccup said sarcastically. "Pain. Love it."

The other recruits turned around and groaned.

"Great who let Hiccup and the Stiff in?" Tuffnut said.

Siff looked down at her feet and didn't say anything.

"What's the matter there Stiff?" Snotlout said mockingly. "Too scared of big ol' dragons to even speak?"

"I'm not scared of dragons." Siff said quietly.

"Oh look, she talks." Astrid said. "That's a new trick. Can you roll over and beg too?"

Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins laughed.

A small half-smile creeped onto Siff's face. "Yes, I can. But I only do it for treats. And I doubt you have any."

" _I should probably explain the nickname now." Siff says. "A few years ago, Hiccup and I snuck out during a dragon attack. There was a Monstrous Nightmare that had cornered us. Hiccup ran away but I was scared stiff. Long story short, Snotlout, Astrid, Fishlegs and the twins saw that and they started calling me Stiff. Well, Astrid started it, everyone else just went along."_

" _I still doubt that Astrid started it." Hiccup says. "It doesn't seem like something she would do."_

" _Well she did. You just won't believe it because you have had a major crush on her for as long as either of us can remember."_

"Let's get started!" Gobber shouted. "The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his or her first dragon in front of the entire village."

"Those two already killed a Night Fury." Snotlout said, pointing at Hiccup and Siff. "So does that disqualify them or…?"

All the other kids laughed and walked away from them.

"Don't worry." Gobber said in cheery confidence. "You're both small and weak. That'll make you less of a target. The dragons will see you as sick or insane and go after the more viking-like teens instead."

"Is that supposed to make us feel better?" Siff asked as Gobber walked towards five giant doors.

"I think in his own way, yes." Hiccup said.

"Behind these doors," Gobber said loudly, "Are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight."

Siff looked over and saw Fishlegs bouncing with excitement.

"The Deadly Nadder." Gobber said.

"Speed eight. Armor sixteen." Fishlegs whispered ecstatically.

"The Hideous Zippleback."

"Plus eleven strength. Times two."

"The Monstrous Nightmare."

"Firepower fifteen."

"The Terrible Terror."

"Attack eight. Venom twelve."

"WOULD YOU STOP THAT?!" Gobber shouted.

"Someone's been studying their trading cards." Hiccup whispered to Siff, making her snicker.

"And last but not least," Gobber said "The… Gronkle."

"Jaw strength eight." Fishlegs muttered to himself.

Gobber pulled a lever and raised the crossbar on the final door.

"Woah, wait." Snotlout exclaimed. "Aren't you gonna teach us first?!"

"I believe in learning on the job." Gobber said with a slight smile. The door opened with a _BAM_ and a Gronkle thundered out of its cave, charging into the ring like a raging bull. The recruits scrambled in every direction. Except for Ruffnut and Tuffnut who rushed toward it, like pumped-up rodeo clowns.

"Today is all about survival." Gobber yelled as everyone ran around trying to stay out of the Gronkle's way. "If you get blasted, you're dead." He watched in amusement as the kids ran and ran and had no idea what to do. "Quick! What's the first thing you're going to need?"

"A doctor?" Hiccup asked nervously, still trying to keep his axe off of the ground.

"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs asked. No one could tell if he was being serious or sarcastic.

"Somewhere to hide?" Siff asked.

"A shield." Astrid said.

"Shields. Go." Gobber instructed.

They all ran around the arena to grab a shield to protect them from the Gronkle.

Siff ran to the nearest shield, but Astrid stuck her foot out and tripped her. Causing Siff to faceplant into the arena's floor. "Watch where you're going, Stiff." Astrid said with a cruel smile.

"A shield is your most important piece of equipment." Gobber said, helping Siff to her feet and grabbing a shield for Hiccup. "If you must make a choice between a sword and a shield, take the shield."

The twins raced for the only shield with the skulls painted on it and immediately started fighting over it.

"Get your hands off my shield!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

"There are like a million shields!" Ruffnut retorted.

"Then take that one. It has a flower on it. Girls like flowers."

Ruffnut yanked the shield from Tuffnut and smacked him in the face with it. "Oops now this one has blood on it."

"Hey!" Siff shouted. "We're supposed to be fighting the dragon. Not each other."

The twins looked over and were about to say something when the Gronkle blasted the shield out of their hands.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!" Gobber shouted.

"Those shields are good for another thing." Gobber said. "Noise. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim."

The kids scooped up some weapons and began banging them against the shields. The Gronkle immediately became confused and disoriented.

"All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronckle have?"  
"Five!" Snotlout shouted.  
"No, six." Fishlegs said. BAM! Fishlegs' shield was blasted away by the Gronkle.  
"Fishlegs, out." Gobber said. He spotted Hiccup hiding from the Gronkle's molten slugs. "Hiccup, get in there!" Then he saw Siff's shield lying abandoned on the ground. "And where in the world is Siff?"  
Astrid bounced by, dodging every move from the Gronkle until Snotlout appeared and tried to flirt with her. "So anyway I'm moving into my parents' basement. You should come by sometime to work out. You look like you work out-"  
Astrid cartwheeled out of the way, allowing a shot to shoot past her and hit Snotlout's shield.  
"Snotlout! You're done!" Gobber said.  
Astrid rolled to a stop beside Hiccup, who stirred awkwardly, and tried to look cool.  
"So, I guess it's just you and me huh?"  
"No. Just you." Astrid said. She dodged another blast of lava and it knocked Hiccup's shield right off of his arm.  
"One shot left!" Gobber announced. That was when he found Siff. She was climbing up the chain roof and positioning herself above the Gronkle. "Siff! Get down from there, lassie."

She completely ignored him and watched as a panicked Hiccup ran after his shield and the Gronkle followed. Then she dropped down and landed square on the Gronkle's back. The Gronkle stopped following Hiccup and focused on getting Siff off of it's back. It thrashed around and finally jerked her off of it's back and threw her onto the floor.  
"Siff!" Hiccup and Gobber shouted in unision.

The Gronckle dove straight towards Siff, and pinned her to the wall. It opened its mouth and cocked its tail,ready to fire point-blank.  
Gobber lunged in and hooked the Gronkle's mouth at the last second, causing its head to jerk back and fire against the stone wall above Siff's head.  
"And that's six." Gobber said, rattled but managing to mask it. "Go back to bed, ya overgrown sausage! You'll get another chance, don't you worry."  
"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked, running to Siff's side.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Siff said, slightly shaken.

Gobber returned and looked sternly at the recruits. "Remember. The dragon will always, ALWAYS go for the kill." Then he walked off and Hiccup and Siff shared a curious look. If the dragon would always go for the kill, why didn't the Night Fury?


	4. The Book of Dragons

Later that night, Hiccup and Siff returned to the scene of the crime. "So why do you think it didn't try to eat us?" Siff asked as Hiccup picked up the discarded bola.

Hiccup chuckled. "Maybe your ferocious roar scared it away."

Siff laughed. "I seriously doubt it."

"Hey, look at this." Hiccup said, putting the bola to the side and picking up a shiny black object. It was a dragon scale. Siff walked a few paces in front of him and picked up another scale. There was a whole trail of them. They followed the trail until it opened up to a cliff overlooking an isolated cove.

"Do you hear that?" Siff asked quietly.

Hiccup strained his ears to try and hear something. "No, I don't hear anything."

Siff closed her eyes and listened closely.

"Siff this is stupid. We should be-"

She clamped a hand over his mouth and quickly shut him up. "Be quiet." She said.

Suddenly a giant black shape shot up the cliff towards them. Causing them to fall backwards. Then they realised that it was the Night Fury. They watched massive beast struggle to climb the walls. It flapped violently, then peeled away to a rough landing. The dragon was trapped.

"Hiccup." Siff whispered. "Your notebook!"

Hiccup frantically whipped out his notebook and began making a sketch of the dragon.

They watched as the dragon, exhausted and frustrated, leapt into the air, beating its wings furiously. Again and again, it rolled uncontrolled and crashed heavily.  
"I don't get it." Siff wondered out loud. "Why doesn't he just fly away?"

The Fury clawed at the steep rock walls, trying climb out of the cove. It slipped and fell hard, crushing several saplings. The Fury rolled back to his feet and slowly crawled to the water's edge. Hiccup and Siff watched intently as the dragon spotted fish in the shallow water and snaps at them... but came up empty. He lowers his head, looking weakened.  
"Siff, look at his tail." Hiccup said, adjusting his drawing, carefully erasing one half of the dragon's tail. Then, to their horror, Hiccup accidentally dropped the charcoal stick. It rolled off of the rock outcropping that hid them from view and bounces into the cove.

The Night Fury raised his head, spotting them. No one dared to move. Then, another dark blur came streaking through the air, right past Hiccup and Siff. It wasn't the injured Night Fury. Siff looked up, past their hiding spot and saw another jet black dragon walking towards the first Night Fury. "There's another one." Siff whispered.

"Another Night Fury?!" Hiccup asked. He popped up to get a good look at it. "That one's tail seems fine."

"Yeah, but look how skinny it is." Siff pointed out. "It's not nearly as big as the other one."

"Hey, Siff?"

Siff looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What do we do with them?"

"I… I don't know."

Hiccup and Siff slowly made their way to the great hall. Yes, it was raining quite a bit, but neither of them really wanted to have to see the other trainees.

" Alright. Where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?" Gobber asked as they walked in. The recruits were seated at a table, eating dinner by the glow of the fire pit.

" I mistimed my somersault dive." Astrid said, earning eye rolls from the rest of the teens. "It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble."

"Yeah, we noticed." Ruffnut said sarcastically.

"No, no. You were great." Snotlout said, taking Astrid's hand. "That was so 'Astrid'."

"She's right." Gobber said. "You have to be tough on yourself."

All eyes turned to Hiccup and Siff as they walked through the giant oak doors, soaking wet.

"Where did Siff go wrong?"

"Let's see," Astrid said in a biting tone. "She tried to ride the gronkle."

"Not to mention she totally…" Snotlout chuckled. "Stiffened up at the end."

Gobber rolled his eyes at the comments. "What about Hiccup?" He asked as Hiccup and Siff tried to sit next to the others.

"Uh, he showed up." Ruffnut said.

"He didn't get eaten." Tuffnut said.

The other teens quickly closed the gaps so they couldn't sit down. They took a seat at a nearby table.

"He's never where he should be." Astrid pointed out."

"Thank you… Astrid." Gobber stood and threw a giant leather book on the center of the table. "The dragon manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of. You need to live and breathe this stuff." Thunder rumbled close by and Gobber sighed. "No attacks tonight. So study up." He walked out and left them with the book.

"Wait… you mean read?!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut asked.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout asked, annoyed.

"Oh! I've read it like, seven times." Fishlegs said excitedly. "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face. And there's this other one that buries itself for like a week-" Everyone stared at him as he went on for just a little too long.

"Yeah, that sounds great. There was a chance I was going to read that…" Tuffnut said, shutting Fishlegs up.

"... but now…" Ruffnut finished.

Snotlout got up and started heading out, the others following him. "You guys read, I'll go kill stuff."

Hiccup saw that Astrid was still lingering and walked up to her. "So… I guess we'll share or…"

"Read it." Astrid snapped, following the others.

"Perfect, more time for us." Siff said.

Hiccup sighed and grabbed the book.

"She's not worth it, Hiccup." Siff told him, in an attempt to try and get him to see reason. "She's a total jerk."

Hiccup didn't say anything and they ate their food.

Later that night, Hiccup and Siff met up in the Great Hall, which was now all but deserted. It was very dark, aside from the glowing embers in the giant fire pit and a few candles that they brought. He and Siff sat down and they opened the book.

"Dragon Classifications." Siff said. " Strike class. Fear class. Mystery class."

Hiccup turned the page. "Thunderdrum. This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight." He couldn't help but notice the lurid illustration of a decapitated viking and Siff turned a few pages.

"Timberjack." She read. "This gigantic creature has razor sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees...extremely dangerous. Kill on sight." The illustrations seemed to take on a life of their own in the flickering candle light.

"Scauldron. Sprays scalding water at its victim. Extremely dangerous."

The storm outside roared and made them both jump, but they kept flipping through the pages.

"Changewing." Hiccup said. "Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight."

They flipped through the book and read on.

"Gronckle."

"Zippleback."

"The Skrill."

"Bone Knapper."

"Whispering Death."

"Burns its victims."

"Buries its victims."

"Chokes its victims."

"Turns its victims inside-out."

"Extremely Dangerous…"

"Extremely dangerous…"

"Kill on sight…"

"Kill on sight…"

Finally, they landed on the page they were looking for. "Night Fury." Hiccup read. The page was completely blank, aside from a few words on the bottom. "Speed unknown. Size unknown." Siff said. "The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance, hide and pray it does not find you."

Hiccup took his notebook out of his vest and set it on the Book of Dragons, the sketch of the Night Fury open to both of them. They looked at each other and quietly pondered as to what to do next.


	5. Dragon Training: Round 2

A sail with a painted dragon, with a sword run through it, billowed in the wind. It was the sail of Stoick's ship. He hovered over a familiar nautical map, his eyes rested on the uncharted corner, swirling in mist and illustrations of dragons. "I can almost smell them." Stoick said in a dangerous tone. "They're close." He raised his hand in the air. "Steady." Stoick raised his gaze to an epic fog bank, towering from sky to sea like a bruised, daunting curtain, beyond which nothing is visible. The three ships drift alongside it, skirting its solid edge, looking for an opening.  
On deck, the crewmen mill nervously, all too aware of what Stoick is considering.

"Take us in." The helmsman steered Stoick's ship into the fog. The men drew their weapons, prepping for the worst. "Hard to port... for Helheim's gate." Stoick said. The first ship disappeared into the whiteout, followed by the other two. Suddenly there was a flash of light. A silhouette of a dragon appeared and hollered. Sounds of splitting and shattering wood filled the air. There was another bright flash, then all was still.

"You know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies." Hiccup said, taking his attention completely away from the training and talking to GObber. "Is there another book? Or a sequel? Maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet?"

"HICCUP!" Siff yelled, tackling him to the ground right before a fiery blast raced past them and left a smoking hole in the wall where Hiccup's head would have been.

"FOCUS Hiccup!" Gobber yelled. "You're not even trying."

Siff and Hiccup got to their feet and continued to run through the training arena. A Deadly Nadder, ran wild in a maze-like arrangement of moveable walls, while Gobber called orders from above. "Today... is all about attack!" Gobber yelled.

The Nadder hopped from wall to wall, sending the recruits scurrying.  
"Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter."

The teens move in, stumbling over Hiccup and Siff as they tried to keep up with everyone. The Nadder spotted Fishlegs' ample rear hiding behind a wall. It whipped its tail of spikes. Fishlegs screamed and raised his tiny shield to protect him from the spray. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" Fishlegs shouted.

"Look for its blind spot." Gobber said. "Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike."

Ruff and Tuff rushed in, diving and rolling up to the Nadder's nose. The Nadder sniffs the air, it can't see them. Tuff and Ruff ended up smashed together, way too close for comfort. Ruff gagged. "Do you ever bathe?!" She whispered.

"If you don't like it, then just get your own blind spot!" Tuff said.

"How about I give you one!"

Ruff and Tuff shoved each other, till their movement and noise gave them away. The Nadder attacked, snapping at both of them.  
"Blind spot yes." Gobber said, hiding his amusement. "Deaf spot, not so much."

Siff wandered up to Gobber as the others darted past. "Hey, so how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?"

"No one has ever seen one and lived to tell the tale. NOW GET IN THERE!"

"I know, I know. But hypothetically."

"Focus on what's going on, Lassie." Gobber said and Siff went back and joined the others. She and Hiccup made their way through the maze until they got to the rest of the group.

"Hiccup!" Astrid whispered. She put her finger to her lips and gestured for them to hide.  
A moment later, the Nadder leapt over the walls, surprising them by landing in front of her. Astrid somersaulted into its blind spot, confusing it. She reared back to strike, just as Snotlout leapt in, protectively sweeping Astrid behind him. "Hey!"  
"Watch out babe. I'll take care of this." He gloated.

He reeled back and threw his axe towards the dragon. And missed.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Siff laughed so hard at this that she doubled over and fell to her knees. Hiccup started laughing too.

"The sun was in my eyes, Astrid. What do you want me to do, block out the sun?" Snotlout cried. "I could do that, but I don't have time right now!"

The Nadder tore off after Astrid, knocking down walls in pursuit. She leapt and dove like a highly trained gymnast.  
Hiccup wandered up to Gobber again. "They probably take the daytime off. You know, like a cat. Has anyone ever seen one napping?"

"Hiccup! Watch out!" Siff yelled.

Hiccup turned to see the maze walls collapsing like dominos toward him. Astrid came flying through the dust and crash-landed on top of him, laying him out in a limb-tangled mess.

"Oooh! Love on the battlefield!" Tuff yelled.

"She could do better." Ruff said.

The Nadder closed in, emerging through the cloud of dust.

Hiccup was struggling to get untangled from Astrid. "Just... let me... why don't you…"

Seeing that he was in trouble, Siff raced towards the Nadder and grabbed it's tail to by them time. The dragon ran in circles for a moment, confused, before whipping Siff off of it's tail and raced back toward them like a Raptor. Astrid untangled herself and tried to pull her axe from Hiccup's shield... which was attached to his arm. She planted her foot on his torso and yanked the axe free, still burrowed into the shield. She spun around and swung the axe and shield, scoring a direct hit on the oncoming Nadder's nose. It yelped and scurried off.

"Well done, Astrid." Gobber called, hobbling off to wrestle the Nadder back into it's cave.  
Hiccup jumped to his feet and raced to where Siff was sitting against the wall. "Are you okay?" He asked, kneeling down next to her.

Siff nodded. "I'm fine. It knocked the wind out of me is all."

He helped Siff to her feet and turned to find that everyone was looking at them.

Astrid had a death glare on her face. "Is this some kind of a joke to you?" She demanded. "Our parents' war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on."

Hiccup tried to hide how much her words stung. But Siff still saw it.

"Leave him alone, Astrid." Siff said, putting herself in between Hiccup and Astrid.

"And the same goes for you too!" Astrid spat.

"Yeah? Well maybe I don't want to fight them." Siff defended, taking a step forward.

"That just goes to show who you are. A weakling and a coward."

"And you're a cruel jerk and a monster."

Astrid screamed and tackled Siff to the ground. Siff felt Astrid punch her over and over again. She felt a sickening crack as Astrid landed a hard blow against her ribs. She tried to fight back, but it was all happening too fast. Astrid's sharp fingernails dug into Siff's skin and tore down her arms cheeks as Siff tried to get free. She could feel the warm blood dripping down her skin. Astrid pulled Siff up by the front of the shirt and was bringing her head down on hers when Gobber yanked Astrid up off of Siff.

"ENOUGH!" Gobber roared. "Astrid! Get out of here, now! I'll deal with you later."

She grabbed her axe and stomped off.

Gobber knelt down next to Siff, who was laying on the ground, not moving. "Siff? Siff? Can you hear me, lassie?"

"Yeah." Siff groaned in response, opening her eyes and trying to get up.

"Not so fast." Hiccup said.

Slowly, Siff managed to pull herself to her feet. Her head was throbbing and she could feel blood dripping down her left cheek and arms.

"Come along, Siff." Gobber said, gently taking her by the arm and leading her out of the arena. "We'll get you fixed up." Hiccup followed close behind. He was shocked at how Astrid had reacted. Yes, he knew that she teased them a lot. Everyone teased them. But he never expected her to lash out like that. Hiccup couldn't help but feel guilty as he saw how much pain Siff was in. They made their way to the Great Hall and Gobber had Hiccup take Siff the rest of the way while he went and got a healer.

"Are you alright?" Hiccup asked, sitting Siff down on one of the big chairs in the hall.

"I'm okay." Siff said softly. Hiccup had noticed that she was being particularly quiet and was avoiding the light by keeping her eyes closed.

"Siff, be honest with me." He told her. "Are you okay?"

Siff shook her slowly shook her head.

"Where does it hurt?"

Siff squeezed her eyes shut in pain.

"Don't worry, you don't have to talk. Just point to where it hurts the most."

Siff pointed to the back of her head, on the right side. Then her left eye, which was darkening and beginning to swell, and left cheek.

"Anywhere else?"

Siff pointed to her ribs, her arms and her right shoulder. "I think I landed on my shoulder wrong when she tackled me."

Just then, Gobber walked in with a man named Ander, as well as Gothi.

"Where does it hurt?" Anders asked, walking over to Siff.

"Her head, eye, cheek, ribs, arms and right shoulder." Hiccup said. "Too much noise or light is making her head hurt even more."

Ander examined the injuries closely and then began pulling herbs and bandages out of a bag. He mashed the herbs together and then applied the paste to her cuts and to the bruise forming over her eye. Then he bandaged the cuts. "You'll need to change these every day, and apply more of the herb past. That'll help the wound heal faster and prevent infection." He told her. Then he had her lay down on a table while he examined her ribs. "Two fractures." Ander informed Hiccup and Gobber. "Not major enough to have to reset, but they'll hurt for a long time."

"What about her head?" Hiccup asked.

"She'll have a bump by tomorrow." Ander said. "If the headaches persist, I'll give you some herbs to help. Boil them and then drink the water. Also, a hot rag will help with the pain."

Gothi stepped forward and handed Siff a small cloth with runes written on it. It was part of their culture to use magic runes to help with healing. Written on it was: _Eri, goddess of healing, mend my wounds._ Siff put the cloth in her pocket.

"Will she be able to continue in dragon training?" Gobber asked.

Ander shook his head. "Not until she fully heals. And that could take weeks."

"I'll still come and watch." Siff said quietly. "Can't hurt to keep learning."

Ander and Gothi walked out, leaving Gobber and Hiccup alone with Siff.

"Don't let me forget to help you with the cuts." Hiccup told her.

"Okay." Siff said, then she smiled. "But on the upside, the scar will look cool. I could say that I fought a dragon or a troll or something."

Gobber chuckled. "You do that, lassie. Now let's get you two home."

When they got back home, Hiccup helped Siff upstairs. "Do you need anything?" He asked.

Siff thought about it. "No. But we're going to go back and see the dragons tomorrow."

Hiccup sighed. "You're hurt. As much as I want to, we can't."

"Yes we can. And we will. That's what I need. I need to see those dragons again."

"Alright. We'll go first thing in the morning."


	6. Meeting the Night Furies

The next morning, Hiccup and Siff cautiously made their way to the cove where the two Night Furies were. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Hiccup asked. "You don't look so good." After the fight with Astrid yesterday, Siff had been beaten pretty badly. The long gashes on her arm and cheek had begun to heal and her headache was gone for the most part, thanks to Ander's medicine. But she still had two fractured ribs and a giant, nasty bruise under her eye.

"Yes, I still want to do this." Siff told him firmly.

Hiccup nodded and produced two salmon from a small basket that he had brought along. "I think that they might trust us more if we bring them something to eat."

"Hopefully they'll take the fish and not us." Siff joked.

When they got to the cove, Hiccup found a gap in the rocks and cautiously looked though. No dragons in sight. He threw his fish through the gap and it hid the ground with a splat and slid along the grass. A moment later, Hiccup peeked through a gap in the rock, and looked around cautiously. Nothing. "Wait here for a second." Hiccup said before squeezing through and entering the cove. Suddenly, Hiccup heard a snort from behind him. Hiccup turned to see the Night Fury, crouched on a rock like a stealthy panther. It descended, approaching him... ready to pounce.  
Hiccup swallowed his fear and offered the fish. In doing so, he revealed the dagger at his waist. The dragon saw it and hissed. Hiccup reached for it, eliciting a growl. Then he paused, carefully lifting it by the handle, and tossed it away. The dragon calmed and as it approached the fish, Hiccup notices that it was missing teeth. " Huh. Toothless." He said out loud. "I could've sworn you had…" A set of razor sharp teeth shot out from its gums to grab the fish. The dragon snatched and gnashed it up, swallowing it. "... teeth." The teeth retracted again and the dragon pressed closer with an expectant look.

Hiccup retreated nervously. "Uh, no. No, I don't have any more."

The Night Fury backed Hiccup against a rock, placing himself the same position as before. The dragon closed in over him, staring blankly. A tense moment passed, then it regurgitated a chunk of fish onto Hiccup's lap. They exchanged stares. That's when Hiccup  
realized what it wants him to do.  
Hiccup crouched slowly and squeamishly picked it up. The dragon waited expectantly. Hiccup gaged and gnawed off a bite of the slimy fish. He held it in his mouth and made a nose to try and tell the dragon that is was good. The dragon clearly knew it was a trick and made the head movement of swallowing.

Hiccup made the look of "you've got to be kidding me" but he gritted his teeth and swallowed, very difficulty. He forced a smile and then he saw the dragon mimic him. Amazed, Hiccup sat up and tried to touch him. The dragon hissed and flapped off to a crash on the other side of the cove. Where Hiccup saw the other dragon laying down on the ground, not moving. He blasted the mossy ground around the other dragon to a red-hot temperature and curled up next to it like a giant dog.

"Is the other dragon there?" Siff called, leaving her hiding spot.

"Yes. But I think it's very hurt."

Siff walked over to Hiccup and they quietly made their way over to the dragons. "I think the smaller one is a girl." Siff whispered.

Hiccup nodded in agreement and sat down next to the male.

The dragon turned around to find Hiccup seated beside him. It seemed to tolerate his persistent presence, until Hiccup tried to touch his damaged tail. The dragon let out a low growl and Hiccup took the hint and immediately backed off.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hiccup noticed Siff approaching the female dragon. He turned to see what she was doing and then, to his horror, the male saw this too. The dragon sprang to it's feet and stalked towards Siff. But not before Hiccup could jump in between them. Hiccup threw his arms out and stared into the dragon's giant yellow eyes with a look of ultimate protection on his face. The dragon growled and looked from Hiccup to the female. Then, the look in the dragon's eyes changed from deadly to interested. Hiccup turned his head to see Siff kneeling down next to the injured dragon's head with the fish in her hands.

Siff was careful not to startle the female as she slowly got closer. She kept constant eye contact with it as she knelt down. The dragon looked at her with fear in it's eyes, but was too injured to move. "It's okay," Siff said gently. "I'm not going to hurt you." She presented the fish to the dragon and kept looking into it's eyes. "I just want to help." The girl opened her mouth and took the fish from Siff, gobbling it up as though it hadn't eaten in days. Siff smiled and placed a hand on her head. The dragon made a gentle noise as if to say thank you.

While Hiccup was distracted by this encounter between Siff and the girl dragon, the male bounded past him and pounced towards Siff. "Siff!" Hiccup yelled.

Siff looked over and saw the male racing towards her and managed to scramble out of the way as he landed right where Siff had been sitting, next to the female. A series of growling and other noises was past between the two dragons as Hiccup ran over to Siff. "Are you alright?" Hiccup asked desperately. "Did it hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine." Siff said, still looking with wonder at the two dragons. Then her eyes went wide as she saw the male walking towards them. Hiccup moved Siff behind him and the dragon stopped, looking at Hiccup with curious eyes. He snorted and once again, they're face to face. Hiccup slowly extended his hand. The dragon hesitated and Hiccup turned his head away and closed his eyes in fear. To his amazement, the dragon bridged the gap and pressed his muzzle against Hiccup's hand. They stood there for a moment and then, in a flash, the dragon raced back to his friend, leaving Hiccup astounded.

Siff and Hiccup shared a look and then walked out of the cove.

"Did you see what was wrong with the female?" Hiccup asked as they made their way back to the village.

Siff nodded. "She had a few cuts along her head, and then huge gashes on her right leg and wing. I think she may have gotten in a fight with another dragon."

"Do you think she can fly?"

"I seriously doubt it."

By the time they got back to the village, it had been dark for almost an hour. They met up with Gobber and the other recruits who were seated at the top of an abandoned catapult tower, toasting campfire food around a roaring bonfire. They each grabbed some food and joined in.

" ...and with one twist he took my hand and swallowed it whole." Gobber told them, enthralling them with the tale of his most famous dragon encounter. "And I saw the look on his face." He paused for effect. "I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg."

"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon." Fishlegs said, gulping down half of a roasted chicken. "Like if your mind was still in control of it you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing his heart or something."

"I swear I'm so angry right now." Snotlout growled, munching down angrily on a chicken leg. "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight, with my face." He turned and looked at Astrid, who was looking at him with approval, but then hid it with an eyeroll.

"Un-unh. It's the wings and the tails you really want." Gobber said with his mouth full of food. "If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

Hiccup and Siff shared a very worried look, managed to hide it from the other by pretending to be intrigued with how well their chicken was cooking.

"Alright. I'm off to bed. You should be too." Gobber continued. "Tomorrow we get into the big boys. Slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who'll win the honor of killing it?" He taunted playfully before hobbling away.

"It's gonna be me." Tuffnut said in a matter of fact tone. "It's my destiny. See?" He rolled up his sleeve to reveal a red dragon on his arm.  
Fishlegs gasped. "Your mom let you get a tattoo?"

"It's not a tattoo." Tuffnut replied. "It's a birthmark."

"Okay, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before." Ruffnut pointed out.

"Yes it was." Tuffnut said defensively. "You've just never seen me from the left side until now."

" It wasn't there yesterday." Snotlout said. "Is it a birthmark or a today-mark?"

Hiccup and Siff got up and walked away from the group, failing to notice that Astrid watched them leave with a very suspicious look on her face.

"What are we going to do?" Siff inquired as they ran to the blacksmith's shop.

"Like you said." Hiccup told her, "We're going to help them."

Siff nodded and she split up from Hiccup. She raced to the house and grabbed all the herbs that Ander had given her. Then, she snuck into his garden and grabbed enough to double the amount she had. If the herbs he had given her were to be used to heal wounds, then more of them would be able to help the girl dragon. She got back to the house and mashed up the herbs into a paste and put them carefully into a jar. Then she raced back to the blacksmith's shop. When she got there, she found Hiccup hard at work.

The leather bellows creaked under his weight and the stone forge glows with every pump. Tongs pulled intricate iron pieces from the coals. They're dropped onto the anvil, twisted, lightly hammered, and dunked in a barrel. Hiccup carried each piece to a workbench and laid out in place on a one-to-one schematic, a sketch of a mechanical fin. When Hiccup was finished, they left the shop and went back home. Tomorrow, they would go back to the cove.


	7. Training the Dragons

"So how are we going to tell them apart?" Siff asked as they walked to the cove. She had a giant basket of fish slung over one shoulder and the bottle of medicine in the other hand.

"We could name them." Hiccup suggested, carrying a slightly smaller basket and the prosthetic tail that he had made.

"Okay. But what would you call a Night Fury?"

"I was thinking Toothless."

Siff couldn't help but chuckle. "Toothless? Sounds a little wimpy for the most feared dragon on Berk."

Hiccup shrugged. "It fits him though. I mean, when I first fed him yesterday, I didn't think he had any teeth."

"Whatever floats your boat."

"What about the girl? Were you thinking about naming her?"

Siff thought about it for a moment. "I think… Shadow."

"Why Shadow?"

"Well, I actually saw her the first time we found Toothless. But she was so fast that I thought she was just a shadow bouncing off the trees. Also, I noticed that she kinda mimics everything that Toothless does. She shadows him."

"Huh… I didn't notice that."

"That's because you were trying not to get eaten." Siff said with a smile.

"True." Hiccup said as they entered the cove. Toothless quickly approached him, sniffing eagerly at the basket. "Hey Toothless." He said with a smile. "I brought breakfast, hope you're hungry." He dropped the basket and tipped it over, spilling slimy fish all over the ground.

"That's disgusting." Siff said, walking over to Shadow. "Hey girl, how you feeling?"

Shadow made a sort of moaning noise as Siff set down the basket of fish in front of her. "Well, some food in that stomach of yours should help." Siff held out her hand and Shadow nudged into it, letting her know that it was okay for Siff to touch her. She walked around Shadow, trying to figure out where she should start. The cuts on her head were small and already healing, so they weren't her first priority. But then when Siff saw her wing, she saw that the injuries had gotten worse since yesterday. The cuts were still open and a yellow, pus-like goo was beginning to form around the edges.

Suddenly, she heard a loud shriek from the other side of the cove and saw saw Hiccup holding up a large eel, while Toothless was freaking out about it. "Get rid of it!" Siff called, Hiccup did what she said and threw the eel back into the basket, out of sight.

Once that had been taken care of Siff went to work, carefully rinsing out the wounds with some clean water that she had brought and then gently applying the herbal paste that she had mixed the night before. The hard part was going to be bandaging it. Siff took out large squares of cloth from her pack and put a small layer of tree sap on the edges of the cloth before placing them on both sides of Shadow's torn up wing. _That'll have to do for now._ Siff thought. _I'm probably going to have to use stitches._ (Authors note: Vikings did, in fact, use stitches to repair battle wounds. It was not an uncommon practice.)

"WOAH!"

Siff turned around to see Hiccup struggling to keep a hold on Toothless bolted into the air. The ground sped away and Toothless immediately tipped into an uncontrolled bank and dive. Hiccup saw the folded fin rattling uselessly in opposition to its flared counterpart. Flap as he may, Toothless couldn't correct his trajectory. Hiccup swallowed his fear and crawled towards the folded prosthetic. He reached for it and yanked it open. The flared, fan-like appendage caught the air, stabilizing the twisting tail. "IT'S WORKING!" Hiccup shouted in both terror and excitement.

Siff laughed as she watched Toothless arc just short of the water and climb higher into the air.

"Yes! Yes, I did it." Hiccup exclaimed.

Toothless glanced back at Hiccup, who was busily holding the tail open while trying to hold on. A look of annoyance came on Toothless's face and he threw Hiccup off his tail with a forceful flick.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" He bounced across the water's surface and took a dive. Without Hiccup to operate the tail, Toothless did the same, plunging in a massive cannonball. Siff rushed to the side of the pond to see if Hiccup needed help, but he resurfaced moments later, laughing. "Yeah!" He exclaimed.

Toothless popped out of the water and immediately swam out, that look of annoyance still plastered on his face. Siff was surprised to hear a gurgling noise coming from Shadow as Toothless walked past her. It must have been some sort of laughing.

"Are you okay?" Siff asked as Hiccup made his way out of the pond.

"Okay? I'm amazing!" Hiccup laughed. "That was awesome!"

Siff laughed with him. "Except for the part where you both took a plunge."

"Right. Except for that. But I can fix that!"

Siff smiled. "You'll have to do that later." She said. "We're late for dragon training."

Hiccup looked downhearted. "Right… that…"

"We'll come back as soon as we're done." Siff promised him as they left the cove.

"Today is all about teamwork." Gobber called from above the arena. "Work together and you might survive."

Siff stood next to him and watched as gas seeped through the cracks of giant double doors and it blasted open. A cloud of smoke engulfs the ring, swirling around the paired-up teens. Astrid with Ruffnut. Snotlout with Tuffnut. Fishlegs with Hiccup. All carried buckets of water, poised to throw them.

"Now, a wet dragon head can't light its fire." Gobber told them. "The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, the other head, lights it. Your job is to know which is which." The smoke encircled them, cutting them off from each other. The teens listened and watched for any sign of the dragon.

"Razor sharp, serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion." Fishlegs muttered to himself. "Prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims in its…"

"Would you please stop that?!" Hiccup snapped.

A little ways away, Snotlout and Tuffnut moved nervously through the fog, Snotlout singing quietly to himself to calm his nerves. "If that dragon shows either of his faces," He said I'm gonna-" Suddenly, he spotted an approaching shape. "There!" Snotlout and Tuffnut hurled their water into the fog.

"Hey!"

The shape moved closer and then they realized that it was Astrid and Ruffnut that they had soaked.

"It's us, idiots." Ruffnut said, throwing her water on her brother.

"Your butts are getting bigger." Tuffnut joked. "We thought you were a dragon."

"Not that there's anything wrong with a dragon-esque figure." Snotlout said to Astrid, who proceeded to punch him in the face. Ruffnut followed by tackling Tuffnut to the ground.

"Wait!" Astrid said. They all froze, suddenly a giant tail swept out of the fog and took them all down. Spilling whatever water was left in their buckets.

Hiccup and Fishlegs came across the spilled water and Tuffnut ran past them, holding his arm. "Oh, I'm hurt!" He cried. "I am very much hurt!"

"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now…" Fishlegs said.

"Look out!" Hiccup exclaimed. A Zippleback head emerged out of the smoke. Fishlegs hurled his water at it, completely dousing the head. It leered and opened its mouth, spewing gas into the area.

"Oh… wrong head." Fishlegs said.

Gas began to flow around their legs and Fishlegs fled in panic.

"Fishlegs!" Gobber shouted.

A clicking sound came from behind them. Sparks flashed in the smoke.

"Now Hiccup!" Gobber yelled.

The other head swooped out of the smoke. Hiccup hurled his water with all his might. It arced and dropped short of the dragon's sparking mouth. The dragon grinned, savoring the kill.

"Oh come on." Hiccup griped.

"Hiccup!" Siff called, trying to get his attention.

"Run Hiccup!" Gobber yelled.

The Zippleback hesitated and sniffed at Hiccup. Then retreated. The teens got to their feet, watching transfixed. The Zippleback backed away from Hiccup. He stood and held his hands out, as if controlling it.

"BACK! BACK! BACK!" Hiccup commanded. "Now don't you make me tell you again!"

The Zippleback retreated through its door and into its cave, hissing.

"Yes, that's right. Back into your cage. Hiccup slyly opened his vest, revealing the spotted smoked eel from earlier. He tossed it inside the door, then slammed it shut. "Now think about what you've done."

Hiccup turned to see Gobber and the teens staring slack-jawed. With the exception of Siff who was trying to hide the fact that she was grinning to ear to ear.

"Okay! So are we done?" Hiccup asked, walking to Siff. "Because we've got some things I need to…" They jogged past the group and out of the ring. "Yep… See you tomorrow."

Back at the blacksmith's shop, Hiccup cut and stitched leather, draws and shapes steel. While Siff mashed more herbs together. They worked by candlelight. Above Hiccup was a drawing of what he was building: a harness, complete with handles and foot pedals.

The next day at the cove, while Hiccup was chasing Toothless down to try and get the new prosthetic on him, Siff was kneeling next to Shadow, changing the bandages and getting ready to stitch the wing back up. The only problem was, Shadow kept moving. But then she noticed that her tail was laying limp in a patch of tall grass. Siff walked over and plucked a handful of the grass off the ground and placed it next to Shadow's nose. Shadow instantly went limp and loopy and she finally held still long enough for Siff to sew the wing back together.

Hiccup and Toothless flew over them and for a moment, it looked like they were going ot make it. But then they crash landed in the patch of grass and Toothless became limp and loopy too.

The next day, at dragon training, Hiccup discreetly pulled a fistful of 'dragon-nip' and pressed it up to the Gronkle's nose. It immediately stopped struggling and went weak in the knees. Hiccup dropped the handful of dragon-nip to the ground. The Gronkle went down with it, whimpering and blissful. From Gobber and the recruits' point of view, Hiccup controlled the Gronkle with no more than a limp arm. Siff grinned knowingly as she watched the encounter go down.

As he and Siff walked home, the rest of the recruits bombarded him with questions.

"How did you do that?" Tuffnut asked.

"I've never seen a Gronkle do anything like that before." Fishlegs pointed out.

Hiccup began to squirm under all the attention and quickly made up an excuse. "I left my axe back at the ring." He said, turning and hurrying back.

"We'll catch up with you later." Siff told them, following behind him.

Astrid watched and glared at them suspiciously.

Later, at the cove, Hiccup and Siff were playing with the dragons. Shadow's wounds were healing spectacularly and she was beginning to try to fly again. But for the moment, they were all wrestling on the ground. And having a great time. But when Hiccup started rubbing and scratching Toothless behind the ears, the dragon instantly collapsed and fell on top of him. Making Siff double over laughing.

Back in training, An angry Deadly Nadder approached Hiccup. Just as Astrid moved in to strike, Hiccup performed his special rubbing technique, which sent the Nadder down. Astrid and the other kids gawked on from the sideline in amazement. Siff grinned and gave him a thumbs up from her spot above the arena.

When they went to the Great Hall for dinner, Hiccup and Siff sat in their normal spot and were all by themselves until the other recruits notice them and move over to their table to talk to Hiccup - leaving Astrid alone.

"Hey Hiccup!" Fishlegs called.

"What was that? Some kind of trick?" Snotlout asked. "What did you do?"

"Hiccup, you're totally going to come in first, there's no question." Tuffnut said.

Siff grinned and elbowed Hiccup playfully.

When they went back to the cove, Hiccup and Siff were using mirror-like objects to create a patches of light on the ground. Toothless and Shadow clawed and chased the light patch like a cat chasing a laser pointer. By accident, they shined the lights in the same spot and Shadow and Toothless collided into each other. Siff quickly hid her mirror and pointed at Hiccup. "Oh, really?" Hiccup asked, giving Siff an annoyed look. She just laughed.

"Meet the Terrible Terror." Gobber said, as the door to a pen opened and a pint-sized dragon stepped out.

Tuffnut laughed. "Ha! He's like the size of my-" Tuff was taken down in a blur. "Get it off! Get it off! Oh! I'm hurt, I am very much hurt!"

Hiccup stopped the Terrible Terror with the same light-patch trick he used earlier with Toothless. The tiny dragon retreated back to it's cage. The teens approach him yet again as Astrid looked on with suspicion.

"Wow. He's better than you ever were." Tuff said to Astrid.

Astrid furiously hurled her axe at a nearby tree. She noticed Hiccup walking by in the distance, carrying one of his trademark harnesses. She quickly tried to follow, but he lost her in the woods. She huffs off, frustrated.

"We need to be more careful." Hiccup said to Siff, once he got to the cove. "Astrid almost followed me here."

"Okay. Maybe you shouldn't leave right after training." Siff suggested. "Go back home for a little while and then come here."

Hiccup nodded in agreement. "Have you tried flying with Shadow?"

Siff nodded. "Her wing is getting a lot stronger. But I don't think she's 100% yet."

"Okay. I have an idea for tomorrow."

Hiccup strapped a newly designed harness onto Toothless while Siff tied both Toothless and Shadow to a tree stump. They climbed onto the dragons's' back and rode them in the air while stationary. They looked like a giant kites tied to a tree stump. "I think this harness is working!" Hiccup said above the wind.

Suddenly, the ropes break. And while Siff and Shadow stay in the air, Hiccup and Toothless crash into the tree. "Oh great." Hiccup said, turning red in the face.

"What's wrong?" Siff asked, landing next to him.

"The hook bent… it's stuck to the saddle."

Later that night, they snuck back into the village. The streets were all empty, save one viking who crossed their path. "Evening you two."

Siff waved in an attempt to make them seem casual. One the coast was clear, they steered Toothless to the Blacksmith's shop. Little did they know that Shadow followed them there and was now rooting through stuff and making a huge racket. "I thought you said she wouldn't follow!" Hiccup exclaimed in a harsh whisper.

"I didn't think she would!" Siff said, trying to get Shadow to stop while Hiccup tried to get the hook off the saddle.

"Hiccup?" Someone said from outside.

They froze. It was Astrid.

Hiccup frantically tried to get the hook out, but it wouldn't budge.

"Are you in there?"

Siff gave Hiccup a shove and he jumped out the window, quickly closing the shutters behind him. Hiccup's harness line is stretched through the window, still attached to Toothless' saddle.

"Astrid. Hey! Hi Astrid." He said awkwardly, making Siff face-palm herself hard. "Hi Astrid. Hi Astrid."

"I normally don't care what people do, but you're acting weird." She said with a biting tone. "Well, weirder."

Siff rolled her eyes and kept trying to get Shadow to stop moving around. Toothless suddenly spotted a nearby sheep and made a move toward it. As a result, Hiccup was suddenly pulled tight against the window shutters. He struck a pose to compensate... then got pulled through the shutters. They snapped back in Astrid's face. Astrid reopened them frantically but found finds nothing but an empty stall. In the distance, the four of them snuck off unseen.

"That was WAY too close." Siff said once they were a safe way from the village. "Of all people, it had to be Astrid that almost caught us. Other than your dad, I would have taken anyone else."

"I agree." Hiccup said.

"That's the second time!"

"I know! We need to…" He trailed off in thought. "Hang on."

"What?"

Hiccup grinned. "Siff, you and Shadow were flying today! When Toothless and I crashed, you two stayed up!"

Siff beamed. "I guess we did, huh."

"Tomorrow, we try for the real thing."

Siff nodded and they went back home, well ready for a good night's sleep.


End file.
